Darkness
by Cordria
Summary: Maddie and Phantom are trapped in the dark. Can they come to an agreement to work together before they both die at the full moon? Part 1 of Illuminations Saga.
1. Memories

_Sometimes, the darkness is real. _

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**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

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Chapter 1: Memories

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She woke in complete darkness. Her head throbbed in time to a quickstep dance. Letting out a soft moan, she pushed herself into a seated position. Absently rubbing her hand through her hair, she flinched as she touched a sensitive spot near the back of her head.

_Pain_.

Her eyes flickered quickly over the blackness as she felt the lump on her head. Not a single fragment of light shone through the darkness. _Where am I? _She closed her eyes, the totality of the blackness making her dizzy. It was far better to pretend she could see, but merely had her eyes shut.

_What happened to me? Why am I here?_

Reaching out with her fingers, she traced the harsh stone tiles of the floor. The spaces between the bricks were deep and wide. Fingers slipped into chill puddles of water, danced over sharp cracks and crevices, and explored to the farthest reaches of her arms. Yet she felt nothing more than more stones. No walls. No furniture. Nothing but ground.

Even through her thick clothes, the cold trickled into her bones. Slowly, silently, she rose onto her heels and crouched for a moment as her stiff joints protested the movements. Her eyes unconsciously drifted open again, trying to help her keep her balance and search for dangers.

_Darkness_.

A slice of a story she had read years ago flitted into her memory. A tale of a dark room… of a slicing pendulum… of a deep, bottomless, _pit_. Images of falling to her death filled her mind, followed soon after by thoughts of what _else_ could be out in the darkness. Moldy, dingy skeletons grinning into the black. Maggots and rats scurrying under her feet. Unseen monsters hiding, chained in a corner, waiting to pounce.

She shuddered and settled back onto the ground. She flinched at a crawling sensation on her arm, visions of spiders and centipedes and other dark-loving insects making her jumpy. _No, stop. There's nothing there. _She rubbed at her face. _What is going on? _Dropping her hands to her waist, she did a quick check of her utility belt. Everything was gone.

She groaned and buried her head into her hands, pressing her palms against her eyes. As sparks jumped into her vision, questions flitted through her brain like hummingbirds. _What happened to me?_

Slowly, ever so slowly, memories started to float back through her mind. No movie reels: only snapshots. Detailed pictures of moments that burst into bloom in her head like fireworks.

_Her son: missing for nearly a week. _

_Jack: sitting in a dirty jumpsuit, staring at the wall of the kitchen, ignoring the fudge Jazz had placed in front of him. _

_A police officer: trying to explain that it looked like Danny hadn't run away. They had activated the Amber Alert… but there was no sign of him anywhere. _

_Her daughter: asleep in Danny's bed, tears still on her face. _

_The police: once again telling her that they had found no trace of Danny. _

_Sam: who by most accounts hadn't stopped crying in days. _

Then she knew. She remembered. _Danny…_

Curling up into a ball – ignoring the chill of the floor – she cried over the loss of her son. Her little boy. Stomach twisting in knots, tears leaked from her eyes and traced cold paths down her cheeks. He'd only just started recovering from the accident a few months ago, and that fiasco with the school psychologist not two weeks ago. _My Danny.._.

Pulling her legs tightly against her chest, the pain of her emotions flooded through her. Her son had been taken. To where, she didn't know. By whom, she didn't know. All she knew was that he was gone. And now, she was here. Wherever here was.

More firefly memories flittered through her mind as she swiped at the tears on her face.

_A trip to the park at night, unable to sleep. _

_A shadow on the grass. _

_A sharp pain in her head. _

_Blackness. _

Chains rattled. She flipped her head around, eyes widening. Even in the complete darkness, she gazed about, searching for the source of the noise. Then, on the far side of the room, she saw two glowing, green eyes staring right back at her.

**_To be continued…_**


	2. Sleep

_You cannot escape that which you cannot see._

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**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

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Chapter 2: Sleep

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"Who's there?" she croaked. Her voice was raw from lack of use. She uncurled her limbs and quickly shifted into a defensive crouch, one hand coming up into a simple guard position, eyes focused on the green eyes shining through the pitch black.

_Green? Glowing?_

_Ghost._

In response, a ball of light formed unsteadily before the glowing eyes. Maddie blinked, tears blurring her vision as her eyes struggled to adapt to the sudden glow. She looked away, searching for dark shadows to let her stinging eyes rest. For a moment, she contented herself with gazing about the small room. Stone walls rose to a low ceiling; a thick door took up most of one wall; moisture sparkled on the small floor.

Finally she was able to turn back to the eyes in the corner. Squinting, she began to make out the vague form of a person, seemingly holding the light in one hand. She strained to see past the intense shine. Green eyes. Slight, lean build. Black clothes. White hair.

_The phantom._

"Ghost! Where are we? Where's my son?" She staggered to her feet, her head spinning dizzily. Her eyes still stung from the glow, but she refused to look away. In the two months she'd been chasing this ghost, she'd found it to be especially dangerous and tricky.

_Ghost Hunting Rule 2: Never look away from a ghost. They are unpredictable entities that will attack humans without a moments notice._

The phantom laughed, a sad grin growing on its pale face. "Why do you always blame me? You think I'm in any condition to kidnap anyone?" It gestured to the chains around its ankles that held it prisoner. Sighing, it closed its eyes and leaned back against the wall. "I've been stuck in here for.. well… a long time. It's hard to tell in the dark."

Maddie stared at the specter. There were dark circles around the ghost's eyes. It wore a tattered and torn jumpsuit. Dark patches dotted its skin. The ghost opened its eyes again and gazed at her for a moment, tipping its head to the side in apparent puzzlement. A shudder ran through her body. For a second, she thought she saw pity and concern in the ghost's eyes.

Her teeth clenched hard as she shook herself out of that thought. Ghosts don't feel. They don't have true emotions. That's why the feed on human emtions.

_Ghost Hunting Rule 4: Ghosts will attempt to trick you into believing they are not dangerous. They are._

"I gotta loose the light. I don't have enough energy for this."

The darkness fell back around them as the light flared and vanished. Maddie felt her body freeze, instincts screaming at her that the ghost would attack now that she couldn't she. She held her breath until the green eyes opened and looked at her once more. The ghost was still in the corner. It hadn't attacked.

_Are those chains real?_

Maddie slowly relaxed her body, keeping her eyes fixed on the ghost. Her first few breaths were unsteady. "Where is my son?" she repeated into the silence, her raspy voice not nearly as demanding as she wanted it to be.

The ghost sighed audibly, the spectral eyes sliding from side to side as it shook its head. "Not somewhere I can help him."

"Then you know where he is?" she asked. A thought skidded through her mind like a train wreck, causing her hands to fold unconsciously into fists. "Did you have anything to do with his kidnapping?" Her voice was terse.

_I always knew this ghost was bad news. _

The ghost's eyes vanished. "I know where he is," the ghost murmured. "I know he's in really bad shape." The eyes opened back up, glowing with an odd light. Sarcasm dripped from its voice as the phantom continued, "And yes, I kidnapped him and locked him up somewhere before locking _myself_ in a dark room with no food." Under its breath, the ghost added, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

Ignoring the comment, she took a step forwards. "Where is he?" she demanded. Her heart beat furiously in her throat, her fingers clenched tightly into fists as she waited for an answer.

"Locked away. I don't know exactly where, but I know he's alive." The ghost shifted, rattling the chains. "Barely," it added in a whisper. "If I could get out and save him I would."

Maddie stumbled backwards a step and dropped back to the ground in a half-crouch. Fighting off tears of pain and joy, she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. _He's alive. My son is alive. _She pressed her forehead into her knees and sat in silence. _Barely alive_.

After a long few minutes, her head came back up. The green eyes were still gazing across the room at her, tipped slightly to the side. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could _almost _see by the light coming off of them. The ghost was sitting in a position really similar to hers, just watching silently. No doubt feeding off the play of emotions through her mind. "Go away," she said angrily, looking away.

"Can't." The ghost said simply, its eyes dropping closed, its voice broken and weary. "Something in these chains is keeping me solid. Can't do a thing to them. Trust me. I've been trying for a long time."

The green eyes disappeared into the darkness and Maddie could hear the sound of its breathing deepen and even out. _It's asleep?_ She slowly stood up, ignoring the dizzying feeling of her headache. _Ghosts don't sleep. _A snort worked out of her nose and she shook her head slightly. _They don't breathe either._

Quietly questing out with her fingers, Maddie started to work her way towards the wall. The brief minute of light had revealed to her that the room held no deadly or revolting surprises. It was time to explore her stone cage.

**_To be continued…_**


	3. Reality

_The deepest dark is locked inside each one of us._

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**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

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Chapter 3: Reality

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What was probably a few hours later, Maddie found herself sitting in a corner, rubbing her temples. Her head was still pounding. For the fifth time in the past while, she carefully reached one hand up to an extremely tender spot on the side of her head. Her stiff hair felt like it was coated in dried blood. She hissed softly as she prodded the area with a fingertip. From what she could tell, nothing appeared to be broken or currently bleeding.

Despite the complete darkness of the room, she had mapped the entire "cell" she was in. She closed her eyes and pictured the dank confines. The room measured no more than eight feet by eight feet and the ceiling was easily within reach of her questing fingers when she was standing. The walls were made up of thick, roughly hewn stones with no windows. The only opening was a large wooden door with no handle. Every stone, bit of mortar, and sliver of wood was slimy with condensing moisture. It seemed very medieval-style movie dungeon.

Then there were the chains. Each corner of the cell boasted two sets of thick, cold chains with manacles on the ends. One corner's chains were used by the ghost-boy; the other sets dangled free. Maddie shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. _Why aren't I chained up? _

_Probably because there's no way for me to get out,_ she smiled slightly as she answered her own question, shaking her head.

She skimmed over her mental picture of the room, once more searching for a possible exit. None of the stones were loose, the door was solid and unmoving, and there were no holes anywhere. In such a tiny room, it hadn't taken long to carefully search every nook and cranny. Rubbing her eyes, her mind desperately scrambled for an escape. _Maybe… _

_What was that?_

Her head jerked up, eyes flicking open at the harsh, echoing sound. The ghost was coughing. She winced in sympathy at the painful sound, then rolled her eyes. The ghost wasn't in any real pain – the thing lacked the nerves necessary for pain to exist. Maddie watched the eyes open, listening to the icy chains rattle in the black. "Sorry," the ghost rasped. "I have been falling asleep a lot. No energy, I guess."

Maddie bit her lip, studying the dimly glowing eyes. That made little sense – the ghost had undoubtedly been feeding from her for several hours. She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut again.

_Ghost Hunting Rule 7: Do not speak to ghosts. _

The silence pressed on her mind. Her legs twitched and ached. Her head burned from the wound on the back of her skull. Then her lips moved, almost of their own accord. "Why?"

The eyes blinked a few times, focusing on her. "What?" it asked.

She sighed and repeated herself. Even a half-conversation with a ghost had to be better than absolute silence. Perhaps she could even worm some information out of the spirit. She wouldn't be able to trust most of what it said, but it would at least give her something to do until she could find a way to escape. "Why are you so low on energy?"

After a few seconds of silence, the ghost muttered, "Why do you care?"

Shrugging, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "Got anything better to do?" The eyes slowly shook from side to side. "You collect energy from the ambient atmosphere," she arched an eyebrow, "from _me_, in this case. Why are _you_ so low on energy?"

The ghost's response was a few moments of silence, then a drawn-out, "I haven't eaten in a long time."

Maddie gazed at the thing in astonishment. "Eat? Why in the world would a ghost want to _eat_?" Did the ghost really think she was that stupid?

"I'm not an ordinary ghost."

_Ghost Hunting Rule 4: Ghosts will attempt to trick you into believing they are not dangerous. They are._

"This is where you try and convince me you're different? Not evil like all of your dead brethren?" she drawled with a grin.

The eyes widened. "I'm _not_ evil," the ghost insisted, "and I don't think most ghosts are."

"Right…" Maddie rolled her eyes and was silent for a few beats. Her fingers tapped against the crook of her arm. "So actually explain it to me. Why do you need to eat?"

The green eyes contemplated her before the ghost let out a sigh. "You won't believe me."

"Try me."

The ghost's turn to snort in derision. "Ghost hunting rule number five," he mocked sourly, "don't believe a word a ghost says."

"How…" she trailed off, sitting up straight. Surprise flooded through her mind, making her stumble over the next few words. "How do you know…"

"They're a secret?" The phantom laughed slightly. "They're posted on the refrigerator."

She glared across the dark room, silent as she thought over the implications of that sentence. When she spoke, her voice was dark and accusatory. "How do you know that?"

It blinked. "Uh…"

"You've been in my house?" She got to her feet, a feeling of pure fury settling into her chest. "You've _been in my home?_"

"No," the ghost instantly retorted, it's glowing eyes wide. "I… I just…" It blinked several times, looking around the room like it was searching for some sort of salvation. "I mean…"

Maddie took a step forwards, watching the eyes cringe backwards. The chains rattled loudly in the tiny room. Her breathing was harsh in her ears, mostly masking the quick breaths of the ghost. "Explain. Now."

With a shake of its head, the ghost looked down at its lap. "I can't," he whispered.

"Why not?" It wasn't a question. Maddie walked closer, stooping down so that she was on its level. This close to the ghost, there was a noticeable temperature drop. Tiny goosebumps crawled up her arms.

The ghost seemed to flinch backwards again. "I… you wouldn't believe me even if I tried." His words were a whispery rasp.

"You will," she said darkly, "never enter my home again."

The eyes nodded, wide with apprehension. _Fake apprehension_, Maddie firmly reminded herself. "Yes, ma'am," the ghost breathed.

Nodding slowly, Maddie backed up a few feet and settled back down on the ground. The ghost never took its eyes off her progress. She let the silence fill the room for a few long minutes, assuming her point was now made. "Are you going to answer my question now?" she asked, trying for pleasant.

"What?" the ghost whispered, looking caught off guard by the sudden change of attitude.

Maddie fought down her smile, watching the wide eyes blink rapidly. "Why is it you feel the need to eat?"

The eyes narrowed, studying her closely. "I… it's… a secret," the ghost stammered. It sounded a bit petulant – like a child that had been scolded for stealing a cookie.

"Fine," she said shortly, shaking her head and looking away, leaning back against the cold stone wall. She brought her fingers up to rub at the top of her nose. "If that's how you want to act-"

"It's-" The word tumbled from the ghost's mouth, suddenly cut off as the ghost looked sharply away.

Maddie let there be a beat of silence. "It's what?" she asked gently.

"Nothing," the phantom muttered.

"I'm trying to understand-" Maddie started.

"No, you're not," came the frustrated, quiet interruption. "You're just a bigoted ghost hunter who wouldn't see the truth if it bit her on the nose."

Her shoulders tensed. _How dare this ghost… I'm one of the most equality-based women I know!_ Her mouth opened, but she shut it again with an audible click of her teeth._ It's doing this on purpose, Maddie. Calm down. Don't let it rattle you._

"I'm not an evil, world-dominating ghost," the phantom was muttering to itself. "I'm not and nobody will open their eyes long enough to see it."

_What if…_ Maddie studied what she could see of the pathetic-sounding spirit. The vaguest outline of its body, the broken glowing eyes.

"Of course all the ghosts you meet are evil. They're trying to take over the flipping world. The smart ones stay home." The ghost sulked in the corner, staring at his feet.

_It doesn't have a complicated psyche. It's just a simple electromagnetic pattern imposed on a stabilized plasma matrix. _A small smile drifted onto her lips. _I wonder if I can get it talking again._ She glanced up, noting that the ghost was gazing in her direction again. "You know what conversation does. It helps bigoted people fix their misunderstandings."

The ghost snorted. "You'd have to actually listen. Hear what I'm saying."

Maddie paused, surprised at the small spark of logic, but nodded. "You believe you're not evil. You believe you need to eat."

"_I_ believe," the ghost repeated questioningly, accenting the 'I'.

"Belief means a lot when you're nothing but a psychological imprint," Maddie said with an indifferent shrug. "I know that to be a fact."

"So there's a chance I'm not evil, just because I believe I'm not?" The ghost's eyes were wide, eyeing her like she was some sort of gross biology experiment.

Maddie nodded.

"And so," the ghost continued with an odd, tired twist to its voice, "_everything_ I've said might be true simply because I believe it?"

She hesitated, then tightened her lips and nodded. "Yes."

"Huh." There was the sound of a yawn, then a rustling of chains as the ghost shifted position. It fell quiet, the eyes vanishing.

"So tell me. Why do you need to eat?" She put a cajoling tone to her voice, hoping the ghost hadn't 'fallen asleep'. Her eyes rolled at the thought.

The eyes were dim as they stared at her. "Because I have to."

Maddie scowled. _This is going in circles._ "I just want-"

"No," the ghost interrupted. Its voice was empty. "I've wanted to talk to you for months. I wanted to explain things to you. But all you see when you look at me is an evil, world-dominating ghost. Why should I tell you anything?"

Just for a moment, Maddie felt her perspective move just a touch. _What if it's right? What if I'm missing something…_ She shook her head sharply to clear the idea. _It's trying to trick you. Knock it off._ Staring down at where her fingers should be, she tried to find them, taking a moment to center herself before speaking. "If you don't talk to me, how am I ever going to know what to look for?"

The logic was weak, but this was a ghost. The dead were not well known for their extensive use of logic.

"What if," the ghost muttered, "there were something that wasn't really a ghost? Like a half-ghost?"

"A what?" Maddie looked up at the eyes sharply.

"Half ghost," the phantom repeated.

She forced down a scornful laugh. "Then what's the rest of you?"

The eyes suddenly closed. "You don't believe me," it said sadly.

"Yes, I do," she cajoled. "I believe-"

"Don't _lie_ to me," the ghost snapped angrily, eyes flaring back into existence. Maddie lurched to her feet at the harsh tone, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Water froze instantly to ice. She shivered in her corner, trapped in the darkness with a ghost.

Slowly the air temperature came up, the ice melting. The ghost's eyes sagged back against the wall, vanishing into the darkness. "Sorry," the ghost whispered.

Her heart slowing back down, Maddie slid down the damp wall and dropped back into her corner, eyes fixed on the location of the ghost-boy. Her breath was loud in her ears.

Silence stretched between them for the longest time. "How can you be only half ghost?"

"Why do you care?" the ghost muttered darkly.

She smiled as she imagined the lean, white-haired figure sulking in the corner. Opening her mouth to respond, she froze. _It's acting so human_. Sshe gazed at the half-opened, sullen eyes. _Much more human than any ghost I've ever met._ Almost painfully, her mind started to churn. _Could there be something to its claim after all?_

A hand flew up to her mouth to stifle the sharp intake of breath at that thought. _No. I do not believe this gob of ectoplasmic energy_. The ghost's eyes swiveled up at the half-sound. The green gaze glowered at her for a moment through the dark air. _Do I?_

"You can't be only _half_ ghost," she finally said. "It's not possible."

The green eyes just stared at her. "If you say so."

Maddie wrinkled her forehead. _It sounded so sad when it said that._ She shook her head sharply. _Ghosts do not have emotions_.

"So." She clicked her teeth together as she tried to decide what to say next. "Why do you need to eat?"

To her surprise, the ghost burst out laughing. The noise echoed oddly in the small room. "Because," was its sole answer.

"Speaking of eating," she said, "when do we get fed?"

The ghost's laugh turned into a morose chuckle. "Never." Its eyes closed.

"What?"

The ghost didn't open its eyes. "I highly doubt our survival is part of the ghost's plan." It snorted, ever so softly. "I was investigating this when I got caught. I do know that something needs to be sacrificed on the full moon." The eyes appeared for a moment. "Does that help?" There was a note of exhausted derision in its voice.

Maddie was quiet, staring at the ghost. _Can I believe what it says?_

Its voice sounded weak and tired. "By that point I won't be strong enough to do anything but be dragged along for the ride. I'll die… and you'll probably be right behind me." It sighed, the chains rattling as it shifted its weight, its voice was little more than a whisper. "I'm going to pass out again." Its voice was barely there. The eyes vanished and the ghost's breathing, which had become labored during their talk, fell back into the simple rhythm of sleep.

**_To be continued…_**


	4. Truths

_In the darkness, the truth will prevail._

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**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

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Chapter 4: Truths

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The dark pressed on her as she ran over the things the ghost had said. The first and foremost was its claim of her imminent death. She buried her face in her hands. _Can I believe that_? _And what could I do about it even if I did?_

After a few heartbeats, she pushed the thought into the corner of her mind. There really wasn't anything she could do to escape the room she was in at he moment. Something needed to change before she'd have even a change as escape. Then there was that other thought…

The ghost considered itself to be only half ghost. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cold wall, wincing when the tender spot on her head tapped against an outcrop of stone. _If it's only half ghost, it's half something else._ She tapped her fingers against her knee. _But what?_

her fingers stopped tapping. Her mind flew back over their conversation. _'We'll be dead.'_ _'I'll die.'_ _'Sacrifice.'_ Eyes opened wide as her thoughts solidified. "It thinks it's still alive," she hissed.

Ghost Hunting Rule 3: The most dangerous ghosts are the ones who haven't accepted their deaths.

_If it doesn't believe it died, then logically it would assume it wasn't a 'real' ghost_. Maddie smiled slightly as the thoughts congealed in her mind. _Believing it was trapped in some odd half-ghost, half-alive state would allow the ghost to accept its ghostly attributes and would still let it think it was 'alive.'_

She gazed at the corner where the ghost hid in the shadows, its actions slowly coming into better focus. _It wants to be human… and accepted. That's why it always attempts to play the hero by fighting off those other ghosts. _Rubbing the back of her neck, she sighed. _That's probably why it has such complex emotions. It still thinks it really possess them. _

_And yet…_ She bit her lip as she stared off into the darkness. _I've never heard of a ghost with such realistic emotions. It should be well aware of the 'fakeness' of its emotions. This one… it doesn't seem aware that its emotions are false. _

_Could it really be…_ She shook her head sharply, shaking the thought out of her mind. _No. There is no such thing as a half-human, half-ghost._

Chains rattled in the darkness as the ghost shifted in its sleep. Maddie closed her eyes, troubled. _Ghosts don't sleep, _a traitorous corner of her mind whispered. _Ghosts don't eat_.

_There is NO such THING,_ she snapped at herself.

_If you were going to run into something strange and paranormal, you're in the right town._

She tramped down on her thoughts, forcing her head into calm silence. Ten breaths in. Ten breaths out. Water dripped around her, echoing oddly in her quiet mind. _Logic, Maddie. And logic needs information. Fortunately, I have a ghost that seems to enjoy talking._

Her gaze drifted back to the dark corner where the ghost slept. "Ghost?" she whispered, unsure. There was no response. She pushed herself to her feet and carefully felt her way around the room, one hand grazing lightly along the stone wall.

Kneeling down beside the ghost, she reached out and felt for the ghost's shoulder. The jumpsuit was stiff with dirt and grime, ripped and torn. Her fingers drifted up its arm, running lightly over the cold skin. She stopped, startled at the firm feeling of its skin. Every other ghost she'd run into had a misty quality to them. This one seemed almost stable.

How… Her forehead furrowed. It thinks it's alive. To pull off that belief, of course it would need to be more solid than normal. But how? Her fingers brushed over the ghost's cheek, startled by the chill, her brain forcing this new strangeness into the existing laws and theories about ghosts. It would need a highly efficient storage of active ectoplasm. An overactive stabilizing system that is creating a rigid crystalline structure out of the plasma. Possible, but highly energy inefficient.

She reached for its shoulder, but stopped short. _If that's true, than its possible the ghost wouldn't be able to collect ambient energy as efficiently as necessary._ She blinked into the darkness in the direction of the ghost. _It would… starve…_ Feeling the weight of some kind of understanding curl through her mind, she gave the ghost a small shake. "Ghost."

The neon eyes flickered open. For a second it stared in her direction, confusion easy to read in its expressive, unfocused gaze. Then it blinked, focusing on her. "What?"

"I need you to talk to me, answer some questions."

She was less than a foot away from the specter's face. The chill its presence gave off sent goose bumps up her arm. "On one condition," the ghost answered, yawning, "you stop calling me 'ghost.' My name is Phantom."

"Alright." Maddie backed away, sitting down a few feet away. "Tell me more about you."

The green eyes trained on her, laughter lighting them up before the weight of exhaustion darkened them again. "My entire life's story? That could take awhile."

Maddie smiled vaguely. _You don't have a life, ghost. _"You say you're only half-ghost. How did that happen?" She tried to keep her tone light and happy.

The laughter died back out of its eyes. "It's not my favorite story." The chains on its ankles clattered as it moved.

"Please," she said quietly. She wasn't sure anymore how much the ghost could feel of her, but she tried to push the earnestness of her words into her voice. "I'm trying to understand you."

"Perhaps your mind would be better used in trying to figure out how to get out of here." The ghost's voice was soft. The _'I don't want to talk about it'_ clear by its tones.

Maddie crossed her legs, leaning forwards. Her elbows went on her knees and her hands propped up her chin. "I can't come up with a plan until I get more information about this place. I'm out of ideas for now."

The ghost sighed. "I don't have any more information."

Maddie nodded slowly. "Exactly, gho…Phantom. I'm just trying to understand. But if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

There was a long period of silence. It stretched to the point that Maddie thought the ghost wouldn't say anything. Then, "It was an accident."

Maddie stared at the two glowing eyes, but there was nothing more coming. "An accident?" she prompted.

"I snuck into a place I shouldn't." She could almost hear the shrug. "Something happened, I don't know what. Power surge, maybe. Everything went crazy. It electrocuted me. It… hurt. I thought I was going to die." Its voice drifted off into the quiet realms reserved for painful memories. Its glowing eyes closed.

"Imagine my surprise when I woke up." The eyes glanced up at her. "Of course, I wasn't really the same after that. I figured out I could do ghost-stuff. Walk through walls. Disappear. Fly." Its voice trembled.

Maddie stared at the ghost in amazement. _It sounds so human…_ She curled her toes in her shoes, trying to push that thought out of her head. _Ghosts are NOT human_. The ghost was quiet, seemingly lost in its memories. Her eyes narrowed. _Keep it talking,_ she thought, _find out more information. _"You family… do you ever talk to them?"

The eyes sparkled with a weird inner light. When he spoke, the words came out stuttered, like he was struggling with whether or not to say them. "All the time."

"You actually _talk_ to them?" Her eyebrows wrinkled. _How could a ghost talk to its parents? Why would its parents accept a ghost?_

A beat of silence. "Of course."

"They don't care that you're a ghost?" she wondered.

"They don't know." The ghost shifted and its eyes drifted a little farther away as the ghost leaned back against the wall.

One of Maddie's elbows slipped off of its perch and she jerked before catching herself. "They don't know you're a ghost?" She stared at the ghost in amazement. _That can't be…it's lying to me._

The eyes moved quickly from side to side as the ghost shook its head.

She laughed after a moment. "This would be because you're half _human_, right?"

The two eyes widened and held perfectly still. The raspy sound of its breathing cut off as the ghost froze. "How…" he choked.

_Well, that confirms my theory on how it sees itself, anyway._ "Logic," she murmured, trying her best to sound comforting. "How can you talk to them if they don't know you're a ghost… half ghost? You sure look like one."

The ghost's eyes relaxed slightly. "I can take my human form if I want to."

_Is that possible?_ _What is this ghost, some sort of shape-changer? _"Can I see?"

"See?" the ghost snorted. "Did you notice the lack of lights?" It shook its head again. "And no, my human side is too weak. I would probably die I turned human right now." The ghost was silent for a long time. "I've been in here for a week," it finally continued, "I haven't eaten that entire time. The only thing keeping me going is that fact that I'm in ghost mode right now. I don't need as much food."

"But you still need some," Maddie whispered. Her eyes widened as she finally understood the ghost's situation. _Even if it's not really half human, it believes it is._ _Ghosts are governed by their beliefs. This ghost is starving, scared, tired, lost, and dying._

The eyes nodded back at her, tiredly. The ghost whispered, its eyes vanishing, "I'm going to die here, all alone, and my parents will never know what happened to me. I've been in bad situations before, but this one is so hopeless. And I'm just so tired."

She was suddenly struck by the fact that the ghost before her… the _perhaps _half-human ghost before her… was crying. _Could he be? Could he be more than 'just some ghost'?_ Maddie was silent. _Could he really have emotions? A one-in-a-million chance?_ She wasn't even aware of the fact that the ghost had gone from an 'it' to a 'he' in her mind.

Slowly, Maddie stood up and moved over to where the ghost was sitting. The cold curled through her as she trailed her fingers along the wall. She hesitated a moment before sitting down and putting her arm around him. He shifted slightly so that his head was buried in her shoulder. The strange firmness of his icy body pressed against her did nothing to salve the chaos in her own mind.

She closed her eyes and sat with the ghost-boy for hours, listening to him cry, all the while trying to figure out exactly _what_ this boy was.

**_To be continued..._**


	5. Superheroes

_There is nothing to fear in the dark._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 5: Superheroes

* * *

Maddie sighed, stretching her arms out above her head. She was lying on her back on the hard stone floor, her ankles crossed. Bringing her hands back behind her head, she was careful for the tender bruise on the side of her head. Her eyes glazed slightly as she stared off into the dark nothingness of her cell.

In the intense silence, her heartbeat thudded loudly in her mind, her breath rasped in her throat like a jet engine, and her stomach growled from lack of food. Between the thumpings, grumblings, and whisperings of her own body, she could make out the sound of the condensing moisture dripping off the ceiling and running in rivulets down the walls. Her eye twitched every time a drip crashed into the growing puddle beside her head. Chinese water torture indeed.

But more than that, she was searching for the scratchy, unsteady breathing of the cell's only other occupant. However much she was loathe to admit it, that ghost was her only link to the real world; the only thing keeping her sane in the hellish darkness. A harsh cough echoed through the air, chains clinking as the phantom's entire body spasmed. She winced a bit in sympathy. The boy's cough had grown noticeably worse over the past several hours.

"Maddie?" the ghost whispered.

She turned her head to the side, glancing off in the direction of the voice. No glowing eyes met her gaze. "What?" she wondered.

"If I die, what would you tell my family?"

Maddie raised an eyebrow and was silent for a moment. "You're a ghost. You can't die."

He sighed. "You still don't believe that I'm only half ghost?"

"I believe that you believe you are still alive," she said after a pause, "and perhaps that's all that matters."

Twin, neon orbs flickered into existence in the dark. "But," he persisted, "if I die, would you tell my family?"

"Tell them what," she murmured. Suddenly she pushed herself to a sitting position and then rocked herself to her feet. She moved across the room, anxious energy needing to be burned. One hand trailed along the wall and her feet took exactly three steps before twisting on her heel and heading back in the other direction. Three steps, turn, three steps, turn.

"Everything," he said. "How I died? Locked up like an animal in the dark? That I suffered to the end?"

Maddie paused in the middle of her pacing to throw a glance in the boy's direction. "What kind of question is that?"

The boy was silent, only his eyes giving away the fact that he was still awake. "I mean," he finally continued, "you have always wanted to capture a ghost and rip it apart, right?" He hesitated for a second. "You don't really care what ghosts feel or how they are treated?" His voice went up at the end, making that statement into a half-asked question.

"Ghosts don't feel emotions," Maddie interjected softly, pacing again. Three steps, turn, three steps. _Full ghosts don't feel emotions_, she amended in her mind. _This one… _

"Exactly," he insisted. "But humans do. Would you tell my family how I died? Would you put _them_ through that kind of pain?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because. I need to know." Silence stretched. His green eyes stared at her, praying for an answer. "I need to know if you care."

Maddie bit her lip, avoiding the glowing gaze. _What kind of person does he think I am? Of course I care about humans…_ Turn, three steps, turn, three steps. _I'm coming off as that uncaring?_

"You care about humans," the ghost whispered. "You don't care about ghosts." The eyes fell to the side as he tipped his head. "Why? I need to know why."

She shivered at the question. _He's not trying to ask if I care about humans. He's asking why I don't care about ghosts._ "Ghosts don't have emotions or real thoughts. They don't feel," she repeated lamely. Three steps, turn, three steps, turn.

"What if they did?" he asked. "What if you found a ghost that, for some reason, could feel?"

_Yes, what if there was a ghost that could feel?_ She shook her head sharply at the thought. _Ghost Hunting Rule… _she trailed off in her own mind, her eyes staring at the boy. _What if…_

She sighed. "When my Danny was little, he always used to pretend he was a superhero. He'd tie a towel around his neck and use a spatula for a sword." A bubble of laughter trickled up her throat at the memory. "He'd chase down all the evil 'ghosts' that were terrorizing our house and lock them up in the bathroom." She finally stopped her pacing and slid down to the ground in an easy crouch.

The eyes blinked at her. "Why are you telling me this?"

"You know what he'd do after he had them all trapped? He'd let them go." Maddie smiled at how absurd the thought was. "Every time, no matter how evil the ghost seemed or what it did, he'd always let them go. He said it was mean to keep them trapped. There wasn't a single malicious bone in his body when he was little. There still isn't."

Phantom gazed at her silently. "I'm still not following…"

Maddie sighed. "Perhaps my son knew something at five that I need to learn at forty."

"That everybody – even ghosts – deserve a second chance?"

"Yes," she whispered, closing her eyes. "And that maybe you shouldn't judge someone based off of what he is, but rather who he is."

"So you're trying to say you're reconsidering the whole 'I'm an evil ghost' concept."

Maddie flicked her eyes open and glanced in his direction. The glowing eyes were dancing with barely restrained delight. "I'm trying to say I'm open to learning more about you."

Phantom's smile was so big it made his eyes crinkle. He laughed softly, his chuckle devolving into a harsh cough. "Well…" he rasped when the coughing had subsided, "what do you want to know?"

_**To be continued…**_


	6. Birthday Cake

_Unleash the darkness within you._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 6: Birthday Cake

* * *

Over the next few days, Phantom told her stories. Between steadily worsening coughing fits, he wove together tales about ghosts he had encountered. As each tale drew to a close, Maddie's head would be spinning with questions and theories. Often, after she would ask a question, he would softly laugh at the absurdity of it. She quickly developed a sort of gruding appreciation for the vast amount of knowledge this teenager had about his spectral cohorts.

After the stories he would spin for her, the ghost would lapse into an unconscious sleep, leaving Maddie alone to contemplate the darkness surrounding her. Each time, she would shiver and tuck her arms in close to her. There was nothing to be afraid of in the room – she _knew _that – but the simple fact that she felt so alone was terrifying. Every minute of the dripping, pounding, roaring silence was torture. Soon she was longing for the ghost to wake up to break the monotony of the blackness.

Yet, something always stopped her from shaking to boy out of his restless sleep. Some mothering instinct, perhaps, that knew the ghost needed the rest, despite the fact that her scientific brain kept explaining to her that ghosts didn't rest. So she sat, shivering, in a corner, her mind whirring loudly in the deafening quiet. More often than not, after painfully pushing thoughts of her family out of her head, the ghost in front of her was the subject of her consideration. _Is he what he claims to be?_

Each time, the Phantom would wake up before she could decide.

"Tell me a story," the boy rasped, dissolving into a bout of coughing.

"What kind of story?" Maddie tucked her feet under her and ran her fingers lazily along a strip of mortar in the floor.

"I don't care."

Maddie tipped her head to the side. "Okay," she said softly. _A happy story,_ she thought to herself, _try and cheer him up. _"When my Danny was five, he became absolutely obsessed with making my daughter a cake for her birthday." She smiled at the memory, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. "I mean, nobody in our family can cook very well, Danny included, but he spent over a week planning exactly how he was going to do it, so I couldn't very well tell him he couldn't. He figured out what kind of cake, frosting, and sprinkles to get. He drew all sorts of pictures and grilled everybody he could think of to get their opinions."

Chains rattled as the ghost shifted in the corner. Maddie's eye flickered open, glancing once at the glowing gaze that was riveted on her. "Finally, the day before Jazz's birthday arrived. Jack took Jazz to the park to get her out of the house and Danny and I went to the store, bought all the ingredients and went home to bake." She chuckled. "It was a complete disaster. I'd never made a cake from scratch before, and the recipe was a lot harder than it looked. Anyway, about half way through mixing up the cake, Danny dropped the bowl on the floor. Cake mix went _everywhere_." She paused, her grinning at the vivid memory. "Do you know what Danny did? He sat down right in the middle of the mess and started to cry."

Phantom gave a short little laugh. "I don't remember that," he whispered.

She wrinkled her forehead, but went on with her story, pretending not to have heard. "I did the only thing I could think of doing. I picked up the bowl, with whatever batter was left in it, and tipped it upside down on his head. Left it there, like an oversized hat, and went to get a mop. By the time I got back, Danny was laughing, cake batter oozing down his face."

"Of course, to a five-year-old, it was revenge the second I stepped into the kitchen. He wiped a gob of batter off the floor and threw it at me – hit me right in the face. I tossed some back, the little battle escalating to an all-out war of cake batter. We destroyed the kitchen in a matter of minutes." Maddie leaned back against the cold wall, glancing over at the sparkling, green eyes of the ghost. "You should have seen Jack's and Jazz's faces when they walked in on us cleaning a bit later. It took _hours_ to get all the batter off the walls."

"You weren't mad at him?" Phantom asked softly.

"No," she answered, "never. I would have given anything to have that moment frozen in time and saved forever. For those precious few minutes during the cake war, nothing in the world meant more to me than my son." She lapsed into silence, her mind whirling with thoughts of her child.

"You really miss him."

Maddie bit her lip. "I just can't handle it, sitting here, not knowing if he's dead or alive. If he's safe, or starving, or hurt, or…" she trailed off. A chill tear slipped from her eye. "I want my son back."

"He's alive."

She brought her head up, staring into his confidant eyes. "How do you know?" she whispered.

"He needs to be alive for the sacrifice," the ghost whispered back, closing his eyes.

Goosebumps raced up Maddie's spine at those simple words. She brought her legs up against her chest and hugged them close to her. _Danny…_

Silence stretched in the blackness, broken only by Phantom's hacking coughs. "Everything will be alright," he said suddenly. "Trust me."

_Ghost Hunting Rule 1: Never trust a ghost_. Maddie stared into the darkness, her eyes burning. She looked into his eyes, not caring about how blurry they looked to her. "Trust…" she murmured. _Can I trust a ghost?_

She blinked a few times. _Can I trust _this_ ghost? He seems to trust me… even though I've done nothing but hurt him. _Her stomach churned as those thoughts echoed around her head. _I've hurt him._

The glowing eyes closed, leaving her staring at nothing again, once more alone with her thoughts.

**_To be continued…_**


	7. Trust

_Trust not those who walk in darkness._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 7: Trust

* * *

"You're asking a lot," she said into the blackness, not looking at the neon eyes that had just opened in the corner. A firm conviction had curled up in her chest as the ghost had slept. She curled her fingers tightly into fists and clenched her teeth.

"A lot?" he rasped softly.

"Trust." Water dripped into small puddles in the silence. She risked a glance in his direction. The eyes were staring at her, confusion brimming in the green orbs. "Why should I trust you?"

_Ghost Hunting Rule 1: Never trust a ghost_.

"Why not?" he countered with a cough.

"You kidnapped the mayor a week ago. You've stolen things from stores around Amity Park. You've destroyed buildings and parks…" Maddie fixed her eyes into the darkness where she thought the door was. She dredged up every memory of the ghost, what he had done, how much damage he had caused, and held it in her heart as she spoke. The hatred felt empty. The ghost had wormed its way further into her soul than she had expectd. "You attacked my family."

Phantom sighed. "I can explain…"

"I don't want to know," Maddie cut him off. "I don't want to listen to lies."

"I'm not going to lie to you."

The simple innocence in his voice nearly undid all the work to harden herself against the ghost's lies. Her heart quivered. She twisted her gaze back on him, hoping the glowing eyes would remind her of all her training.

_Ghost Hunting Rule 4: Ghosts will attempt to trick you into believing they are not dangerous. They are._

"All _ghosts_ lie," she said simply.

His eyes flared. "Why the sudden change in attitude?" he snapped. "You were being so nice and now you're suddenly back in 'I'm an evil ghost' mode."

"Because you're just a ghost!" she hissed. "You don't know what it's like…"

"Yes," he interrupted. "I do. I'm only half-ghost, remember?"

Maddie struggled to her feet. "There _is_ no such thing!" she snapped. "You're deluding yourself!"

"No, I'm not!" he insisted, breaking down into a fit of coughing.

She stormed across the small room, her fingertips dragging against the stone walls, and dropped into a crouch, her eyes inches from his. She didn't flinch away from the hurt, sadness, and fatigue in his expressive eyes, although cracks appeared around her heart. In this close proximity, the slight glow of his gaze made her head spin and the chill from his body sent shivers up and down her arms. "Yes," she stated, "you are."

He was silent, staring into her eyes. "Why the sudden change of attitude?" he asked quietly, determinedly.

"It's impossible. I refuse to believe every theory, every experiment, every _thing_ I've ever learned is wrong."

"Not everything," the ghost replied. She could hear the tentative smile in his voice. "You got a lot right. Just… me wrong."

She shook her head and settled back on her heels. "No," she whispered. "Not possible. Ghosts lie and trick and-"

"Yeah, they do."

Maddie glared at the interruption. "_You_ are focused on one thing. Feeding. Trying to steal parts of my life in an endless attempt to relive your own. One you will never succeed at."

The ghost stared at her. "Why would I want to relive anything? And besides, how can _this_," he gestured around, the chains rattling loudly, "be part of some kind of master plan? Starving myself? Chaining myself up in a locked room? Oh yes, this is a _great_ plan."

"Ghosts don't have good logic skills-"

"You got that right," Phantom muttered.

Sitting back, Maddie rubbed at her temples, then over the bridge of her nose. "Ghost-"

"Phantom." The interruption was sharp. "And yes, you're right, I do 'feed' off your emotions." For some reason the voice softened slightly.

There was the sound of chains moving, then a cold hand touched her knee. Maddie shifted uncomfortably, but didn't pull away. That touch undid all the hatred she had strung together. She closed her eyes, knowing she was falling into the ghost's trap and unable to find herself caring.

"Something's bothering you."

"You know? I've never hurt anything. Not even spiders and bugs. I pick them up and put them outside."

There was silence at that. "I don't follow," Phantom said after a long moment.

"Me neither," Maddie sighed, shaking the hand off her knee and getting to her feet.

"I've moved up the scale from glob of post conscious goo to creepy-crawly bug most people squish without a second thought?"

She couldn't help it. She chuckled. "You make my head hurt," she admitted. "Logic refuses to believe something like you can exist."

The ghost made a humming noise. "You and me both," he agreed. "You can run experiments on me later." The eyes narrowed. "With exceptions."

Maddie snorted. "It'd be easier to believe all this if there weren't just one of you."

"Oh, there's not."

The eyes were closed when Maddie's head jerked up. "What?"

One eye opened. "It's a long story." Then the voice seemed to grin conspiratorially. "Want to hear it?"

She slipped back across the room, dropping down right next to him. She could feel the chill emanating off of his body. Their shoulders brushed. "Yes," she murmured, "I would, actually."

Phantom's eyes slid to the side as he tipped his head, glancing in her direction with a curious glint to his eyes. "You're sitting awfully close to a lying, thieving ghost," he reminded her. "What about all your ghost hunting rules?"

"I'm working on revising some of them," she muttered. "Tell the story."

The eyes nodded. "His name is Plasmius. He…" silence fell for a second, "he was in an accident in college. From what I've heard, it was pretty horrible. He was in the hospital for a long time." Phantom closed his eyes and leaned, almost imperceptibly, into Maddie's arm. "He didn't have anybody," he whispered. "His family abandoned him. When he became depressed and lonely, he pushed his friends away and they didn't fight it. They just left. Left him alone."

Maddie shivered. After the past few days, she knew what it was like to be alone.

"After a few years, his mind… it broke." He pressed a little closer to Maddie and shuddered. "A human soul – full of needs and hopes – giving in to a ghost's obsessive desires. More than anything, he wanted everything he was pushing away. He wanted friends… a family." Phantom looked at her, his eyes glistening. "But by that point, his spirit had been corrupted. He didn't know _how_ to have friends and a family anymore." Caught in a fit of coughing, he curled up around his stomach, and it was a few moments before he could continue.

"Plasmius became obsessive about it. More and more he plotted how to _take_ what he wanted. He got everything he ever desired: money, power, fame… but no friends. You can't take friendship. You can't force family." The glowing eyes fixed down towards his feet. "Even though he tries. It's impossible to imagine. Years and years of failure and loneliness."

She wanted to put her arm around his shoulders. If he were any human teenager, she would have. But… he was a ghost…

"He's not a good person anymore," Phantom said, his raspy voice empty and broken. Maddie stiffened as Phantom suddenly leaned his head against her shoulder and sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"I just don't feel good," his voice was soft. "I haven't for awhile. It's probably a fever or something."

Raising an eyebrow, Maddie smiled. "Ghosts can't sick," she reminded him.

Phantom mumbled something under his breath. Slowly, his breathing evened out as he relaxed against her. Maddie shivered and sat there, more confused than ever.

**_To be continued…_**


	8. Plans

_Sometimes the dark will swallow up everything around it._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 8: Plans

* * *

At some point, Maddie fell asleep.

Hours later, her eyes flickered open. Not that she could tell. It was just as dark with her eyes open as it was with her eyes closed. Absently, she twisted her head to stare into the blackness that cloaked the ghost-boy. He was mere inches from her eyes, yet completely hidden.

She carefully reached up to brush at his hair. It was vivid in her mind; snow white, messy, and forever in need of a haircut. The feel of it was impossibly real – not the misty, insubstantial swirls that were ghost hair. Horribly irrefutable proof that the ghost beside her wasn't simply a normal ghost. Phantom moaned slightly and shifted, not waking up. Slowly, she moved the boy off her shoulder and laid him on the floor before pushing herself to her feet.

Having long since memorized the room, she could pace across the room without putting her hands out before her. Her fingers laced together and came up to tap her lips. Three steps, turn, three steps, turn, three steps, turn.

_Danny…_ her mind whispered. _I need to rescue…_

The pacing paused for a moment, her eyes drifted through the darkness towards where Phantom was curled up on the floor. For just a second, she could picture the ghost – a blob of ectoplasmic goo that could be left behind. Then the image of the boy she'd gotten to know so well over the past few days slammed into its place. She scowled. _I need to rescue them both. I can deal with the ghost - not ghost thing later._ Then she was moving again. Three steps, turn, three steps.

_How?_ She tapped her fingers against her lips, her mind racing. _What do I know?_

_Next to nothing. Phantom doesn't really know what's going on. Or if he does he won't tell me._ Turn, three steps. _All I've gotten is that there is a lady involved. She's going to do some kind of sacrifice to help her take of the world_. An unconscious grin twitched at her lips. _Which is probably a bit of an exaggeration._

She sobered almost instantly. _I need a plan._

Falling back on a life-long strategy for coming up with ideas, Maddie stopped her incessant pacing. Closing her eyes, she imagined a large whiteboard dangling in the air before her. She grabbed her mental marker and started to write. 'Good' went on one side of the board, 'bad' on the other.

_Alright. What can I list – good or bad?_ She bit her lip as she thought.

_I have no weapons of any kind, except my own body_. Mentally, she wrote that on the 'bad' side of her board. Quickly she added: _I'm tired and drained from lack of food and drinkable water_. She sighed. Her own body wasn't going to be much of a weapon. She wouldn't be able to fight for more than a few minutes.

Eyes drifting around the room, she mentally tallied off other things on the board. _Phantom and Danny aren't going to be any help. I have no idea where I am. Whatever is behind that door is a complete mystery. They – whoever 'they' are – could show up at any moment_.

She perused her list, her fingers absently moving through the air. There was a nice column of things under the 'bad' label. Nothing under the 'good' one. _Wonderful._

"Were you making a list?" Phantom's hoarse voice echoed through the room.

Maddie jumped a bit, twisting around to look into his dimly glowing eyes. "How did you know?"

Soft, broken laughter. "You were moving your lips and pointing like you were checking stuff off a chart. You always do that when you make lists."

_Always? How do you know that?_ Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes. "You can see me? Even in this total darkness?"

"Yeah," he said, "I can see pretty well in the dark. One advantage to being a ghost." His luminous eyes were dancing. "I can see about as well as you could if we had a candle in here."

There was silence as she stared at him. Questions were piling up in her head. Before any of them could pull themselves into something she could voice, Phantom spoke again.

"What were you making a list of?" He yawned, neon eyes half-closing.

"I'm trying to figure out how to get out of here. I need to rescue my son."

"Mmm-hmm." The eyes seemed to lift off the ground. Phantom must have sat up. "You won't be able to get out of the room until somebody opens the door from the other side."

Maddie nodded, turning back to her mental whiteboard. "Which is when we'll have to make our move."

"Yeah," Phantom whispered. "We'll have to move."

_Can he even move anymore?_ "We'll think of something," she said. "I'll get us out of here."

"No, you can't," he murmured. After a handful of painful-sounding coughs, Phantom continued. "There's no way you can fight them off. You haven't eaten in days, you haven't slept well either. You're weak and tired."

"I need to do _something_," she insisted. "You're in no shape to fight."

"I can fight." His voice was barely audible over the dripping water and the rasping of his breathing.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? How?"

His dim eyes went even more dull than usual as they tracked down to the floor. "I can," he murmured. "And I will."

Walking back across the room, she knelt down and tapped his chin, getting him to look her in the eyes. "How?" she repeated softly.

"It's called stable ectoplasm," he sighed. "You've heard of it."

It wasn't really a question, but Maddie nodded. "Yes. That's what holds a ghost's form together. Active ectoplasm in the energy ghosts use in fights. How does that help?"

"A ghost can, if he really needed to, tap into that energy and use it." The sad, sickly eyes vanished from her sight. "I can hold them off long enough for you to get away."

"Then…" she thought about it, "what would hold _you_ together?"

"You need to get away," the boy whispered without opening his eyes. "I couldn't live if you didn't get away."

"Answer the question," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

"Go home to Jack and Jazz. You won't die here; I won't let them hurt you."

"Phantom…" silence, "answer my question. What would hold _you_ together?"

The eyes were back, glittering with tears. "What does it matter? I'm just a ghost."

Maddie shook her head. There was no way she was letting this thing die now – not before she'd decided if it was really a ghost or not. "No, you're not," she said, going for persuasive. "And you are _not_ dying for me."

The ghost stared into her eyes. "Thank you," he rasped finally.

"For what?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

"For believing me. For trusting me."

Suddenly the door rattled sharply. Maddie twisted around, her eyes widening as she stared off into the darkness. A metallic creak split the air as a key turned slowly in the rusty lock. Her eyes were forced shut as a brilliant beam of light blasted through the crack formed by the opening door.

"Evening helpers!" a female's voice whipped through the room. "Guess what time it is!"

A cold hand found hers and squeezed tightly. "Everything will be alright," he rasped, "I promise."

Then his fingers were ripped from her hand as she was forced to her feet and blindly shoved out the door.

**_To be continued…_**


	9. Run

_There is no place left to run, but into the dark._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 9: Run

* * *

Squinting through the harsh glare, Maddie's eyes burned and watered. She could barely open her eyes up enough to catch even a glimpse of her surroundings. The fact that she was being dragged up a spiral staircase was obvious. But she wanted to know more. "Where are we going?" she demanded.

A sharp rap on the back of her head made stars jump into her already spotted vision. "Is my son alive?" Another slap to the head. _Questions not allowed._

"Stop that," Phantom's voice drifted oddly in the stairway. Then he yelped as he was hit too.

"Walk and shut up," a man's deep voice commanded. From the sound of it, the voice came from the man holding her arms behind her back.

"Now, now," the woman's voice chided from above them. "They are going to be so helpful, I'm sure we can answer a couple of questions." She tittered. "They have been in the _dark_ for so long, right?"

The man chuckled loudly at the horrible pun. "If you say so, mi'lady."

Maddie squinted up the stairs, her blurry gaze barely making out the tall form of the woman leading them up the stairs. She was just a mass of fuzzy green with a glob of caramel-brown at the top.

"We," the woman said, "are going upstairs to a room I had specially prepared for the two of you. I hope you like it; it's taken weeks of hard work and planning. I was pleased as punch when I found out the resident ghost hero was actually a hybrid. I just _had _to meet him."

"Oh, yeah," Phantom muttered darkly from behind her, "honored, I'm sure."

"As for your son, I'm happy to say he's as alive as usual."

The green blob of a woman was slowly swimming into focus. Maddie could now make out that she was wearing a floor-length, medieval-style dress. The odd caramel blob was actually her hair, carefully coifed on her head. "Why do you need my son and me?"

Maddie twisted her head over her shoulder, peering at the ghost trailing her up the stairs. Phantom was stumbling, his shoeless feet catching on the rough, stone steps. He was just too weak to be walking on his own. A large man was basically lugging the boy up the stairs like a piece of luggage.

"For the ritual!" the lady proclaimed. "It takes two, you see, a parent and a child. A mother and a son. It's perfect!"

Maddie continued to study Phantom. His right arm was coated in dried, greenish blood. His skin was dotted with olive bruises and his cheeks were dark and shallow. Normally clean hair was matted with dirt and blood and his uniform was ripped and torn, hanging off of his skinny frame in rags. Both shoes and gloves were missing, revealing scratched and dirty hands and feet. His lively green eyes were dim and surrounded by heavy, dark rings. If she hadn't known he was a ghost, she certainly would have wondered if he was dead.

The lady was laughing, her voice dashing against Maddie's nerves like nails on a chalkboard. "Imagine, a mere two lives is all it takes for me to rule the world."

Maddie's head jerked around to squint up at the lady. _Two? Danny, me, and Phantom… that makes three…_

She was about to ask when the lady reached the door at the top of the spiral stone staircase. A gloved hand reached out to carefully push the wooden door open. "Come," the woman commanded unnecessarily and swept into the room, her long dress brushing against the floor.

"Whoa…" Phantom breathed when he was dragged into the room. He quirked an eyebrow at the setup of the room, a sarcastic quip jumping to his lips. "Alright, I'm duly impressed."

_He does have a point_, Maddie agreed as she surveyed the enormous room. Gilded columns covered with creeping vines and moonlit flowers rose into the air, holding the massive ceiling high in the shadows. Fantastic stained-glass windows sparkled in the walls, chopping up the moonlight and sending it cascading against the tiled floor in a parade of colors. The floor was a swirling mosaic of blues, greens, reds, and blacks, all pointing to a double circle of gold laid into the floor in the center of the room.

In the center of the area, positioned perfectly on the golden rings, were thirteen candles. Eight blue and red candles were evenly spaced around the outer ring, four black candles and single green one had been carefully set on the inner ring. Each one, except for the lone green candle, were lit and burning brightly. In the dead center of the inner ring was a small dais. A long knife glittered in the candlelight against the dais' black wood.

"First we'll do the boy," the woman ordered. "Bring him!"

As Phantom was yanked towards the rings of candles, Maddie licked her lips. "I don't understand," she asked, "what's going on?"

The green-clothed woman stopped and turned around to face Maddie straight on for the first time. Maddie looked into the familiar features, her heart faltering. "You…" she whispered.

"Yes, me," the woman laughed, her eyes narrowing. "I've been planning this for awhile. Even that meeting we had. You see, Madeline Fenton, I'm here to gain my birthright. My failure of a brother has screwed up… twice." In the vague light of the moon and candles, her auburn-brown eyes seemed to flare a bloody red.

"My family," she continued, her voice tense, "has been owed this for _generations_. It is time to claim the payment for the services my family has rendered." Her manicured, gloved finger shot out to point at the ghost-boy. "_He_ is my key. We have been waiting too long for a ghost-human hybrid to show up. Enough is enough!"

She twisted around on her heel and strode after the man dragging Phantom into the ring. "Tie him up good," she snapped. "He should be weak from lack of food, but I don't want to take any chances."

Phantom glared up at her when he was pushed roughly down on the dais. His lips moved, his raspy voice not echoing in the vast cavern. "Dipstick." Maddie couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Is that the best you've got?" the lady demanded as she reached his side. Carefully keeping her long skirts out of the burning candles, she knelt next to the tied-up boy. "I was expecting better from the great Danny Phantom. You are pathetic. How you managed to defeat my brother I will never understand."

He blinked up at her, confusion written in his dim eyes. "Who's your…" he trailed off, his eyes widening. "Freakshow," he breathed.

"Yes, yes," she said, a smile twisting her face, "Frederik. He lost _two _of our family's heirlooms, the idiot."

Maddie stood still, watching everything happen, her arms trapped behind her by the iron-like muscles of the deep-voiced man. _Freakshow_…She glanced down at the ground, remembering the horrified terror in the boy's voice as he had told her stories about Freakshow. Of all the enemies the ghost had ever fought, Freakshow was by far the one that scared him the most.

"But!" the lady continued, her voice light, "after tonight that won't matter. _I_ will be the most powerful person on the planet. Nobody will be able to stop me from claiming my right. I will rule this world." Her smile grew as she watched the ghost-boy's eyes widen. She ruffled his dirty hair, but quickly stopped and stared at her dirty glove with a sneer. She rose from her crouch. "You, my dear hybrid, are my savior. You will make it all happen." Her red eyes drifted across the spacious room to rest on Maddie. "You and dear Madeline here."

Maddie watched in growing horror as the woman turned around and came to a stop behind the green, unlit candle. "Now!" the lady commanded, "Jose, get out of my circle."

"Yes, mi'lady," the man mumbled, hurriedly finishing off the knots holding Phantom in place before stepping out of the circle. The ghost just knelt on the dais, perfectly still, his eyes closed in concentration.

Her green skirts flared as the lady slowly sank to the floor. She mumbled softly under her breath, taking a long match out of her pocket. Striking it against the floor, she brought the flame up to the green candle. "And the young hybrid's life…"

"Belongs to me," Phantom interrupted, his eyes shooting open. They were glowing fiercely. A wave of spectral energy burst out of him, his ropes blasting into tiny pieces.

"No…" Maddie yanked against the unmoving arms holding her in place. "Phantom!"

The ghost rose to his feet, his hands glowing an electric emerald. He raised an arm, a burst of ectoplasm slamming into the lady in green, sending her toppling over backwards. Another blast took out the man that had tied his ropes. Phantom jumped off of the dais and ran towards Maddie, scattering candles with his bare feet.

About halfway across the room, Phantom took to the air. He pulled to a stop beside her, one dangerously glowing hand hovering right over her shoulder. "Let her go," he snarled at the guard. Instantly, the hands holding her vanished.

Phantom released the pent-up burst of energy, throwing the guard backwards into a wall. He turned his head to gaze at her with his glowing, green eyes. "Go! Run! Get help!" he panted. The ghost's body was becoming more transparent with every passing second. Through his chest, Maddie could see one of the guards clamoring back to his feet. Phantom's head yanked around, his spectral eyes tracking the man's movements. "I can't hold them off for long," he snapped. "Go!"

Hesitating for one more second, Maddie reached out and touched the boy's scarred and bloody hand. He glanced at her, confusion in his eyes. "Stay alive," Maddie ordered. "We need to talk." Phantom, a half-grin growing on his translucent face, nodded.

The she turned and raced through the room. A gaudily decorated hallway breezed into view behind a column and she took it, skidding around corners on the slick floor. She was panting heavily, too weak to run for very long. An especially slippery section of tile tripped her up, causing her to skid onto her hands and knees. She paused, her chest heaving. Behind her, Phantom screamed a battle cry. Maddie glanced over her shoulder once before pushing herself unsteadily to her feet.

Three more corners and an exit came into view. Two men, both muscular and wielding wicked-looking sticks, were blocking the way out. She slid to a sudden stop on the waxed floor, carefully keeping her balance. "Move," she commanded. The two men glanced at each other, smiled, and shook their heads. "Then I move you," she hissed, settling into a fighting stance.

Suddenly, Phantom was there, appearing out of a wall. He flew straight into the two men, throwing them out of the way. Sinking to the ground next to the door, he gasped for breath. "Go!" he whispered when she made it to his side.

Maddie knelt down beside him. He was barely visible. She reached out, her fingers going straight through his shoulder. _He's noncorporeal_, her mind muttered to her. "Phantom," she said softly.

The boy looked up at her, tears in his dull, lifeless eyes. Just for a second, something flickered in his eyes, a tiny bit of emotion. "I'm sorry," he cried, "I can't help you anymore. You're on your own."

"No… you'll be fine," she whispered. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Phantom shook his head sadly. Then his eyes widened, looking over her shoulder. "No," he breathed. He turned his gaze to her. "Run!" he screamed.

Maddie glanced over her shoulder. Men were tearing down the corridor, batons swinging dangerously. "Not without…" she trailed off as her head spun back around. She was alone. "Phantom?"

With one final glance over her shoulder, Maddie pushed herself to her feet and ran.

**_To be continued…_**


	10. Freedom

_Yet, even in the darkest night, there may be a light._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 10: Freedom

* * *

Four day later, Madeline Fenton was sitting in her own kitchen, staring down at her cold cup of cocoa. The tiny marshmallows had long since melted, leaving odd swirls in the dark, thick drink. Emotionally drained, she wasn't thinking; she wasn't feeling; she wasn't _anything_. She was just staring. The cocoa was an infinitely more desirable a subject to contemplate than the thoughts that were warring in the back of her mind.

She leaned back against the counter, feeling the dull edges press into her flesh, her gaze locked on the liquid in her cup. Unbidden, memories swirled through the cocoa, shimmering into her mind. A tear trickled down her cheek as she remembered…

Maddie had stumbled through the woods for over a mile until she had found the highway. She had been extremely bruised, bloodied, and scratched by that time. Vaguely amazed that the men hadn't followed her and beaten her to death yet, she had flagged down a passing car to call for help.

After being trucked off to the hospital, it had taken hours to find out what had happened to the lady and her associates. The entire time the doctor had prattled on about dehydration, nutrient deficiencies, and infections, she had been staring at the door, waiting for someone to come in with news.

Jack and Jazz had basically flown through the door, both of them embracing her in a huge hug, demanding to know what had happened. Maddie had just shaken her head, silent, her eyes glazed. The doctor had taken the two away to talk to them when the police officer walked in the door.

The lady, Jessica Oscura, and her six men had all been found and taken into custody. Somehow, they had all been knocked out and tied up when the police arrived. Maddie had gazed into the man's blue eyes and demanded to know if her son or Phantom had been found. The man had shaken his head, his mouth moving, asking questions. She hadn't heard a word of it.

Later, when she had been questioned, the lady in green had only smiled, refusing to talk. "Danny Fenton? Phantom?" she had finally said, "What does it matter? He's dead by now."

Searchers had combed the entire area multiple times. Every small store room and shed had been meticulously turned upside down. As time passed, the thoughts of finding either of the boys had dwindled. Last night the phone had rung: they were calling off the search. They wanted to declare Danny Fenton legally dead. He had most likely starved to death in a dark room with no way out.

The paper this morning had declared Phantom a hero, giving him credit for Maddie's survival. After setting the paper on the kitchen table, Jack, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker had cornered her. They had made her talk, made her bring back memories. So she told them. She finally told them everything.

She told them about the dark, that terrifying blanket of shadows. She told them about the deafening silence that had tried to drive her insane. She told them about the ghost that had changed her life. She told them about the sacrifice, and about how the boy had died to save her.

By the end of the tale, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were crying just as hard as she was. Jazz hadn't even made it to the end of the tale, she had fled to her room and locked the door, sobbing. She was probably still there. Sam and Tucker had stood there, tears trickling down their cheeks, until the very end. Then, holding each other up, they had walked out the back door, silent.

Jack had waited until it was just the two of them before scooping her up in an enormous hug. He just held her, rocking back and forth, letting her cry. When she had cried herself out, he had made her the cup of cocoa and had gone down into the lab.

And so she stared into the cocoa, her mind reeling with the events of the past few weeks. _My baby…_ she whispered to herself. _He's dead. Is it true?_

Finally raising her head, she glanced around the dimly lit kitchen. _I need to get out, I need to go someplace._ Her mind whirled. _I want to see the light_.

Carefully setting her untouched cocoa on the counter, she picked up the keys to the RV and headed out the door. She moved as in a daze, her mind blank and swirling. _Where to go?_ she wondered. Not having an answer, she slid into the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway. _Anywhere…_ her mind replied after a few blocks. _Drive until you get there._

Streets passed by her fogged mind. She breezed back several parks and sunny grassy knolls. Still she drove, miles clicking away softly on the odometer. Over and over she traversed Amity Park, searching for something her heart was telling her was out there. Somewhere.

The RV's engine finally sputtered to a stop in a rather down-trodden section of town. With a sigh, Maddie tapped the gas gauge. _Empty_. She sat back in the driver's seat and closed her eyes. _Is this where I want to be?_

Her eyes flickered open at an odd beeping noise. For a few moments, she sat still, listening to the mechanical beep. "That can't be…" she whispered. Slowly she leaned forwards, her eyes searching out the ghost radar among the many devices hotwired into the dashboard. There, just at the edge of the screen, there was a tiny blip.

Eyebrows wrinkled as she gazed at the radar. "This is set up to track Phantom's ectosignature." She blinked down at the blip on the screen, then reached out and tapped it with a fingernail. The blip didn't go away. "It's picking up Phantom." The gears in her mind churned on this thought for a second.

Suddenly her eyes sprang wide open. "Phantom's alive!" She yanked her seatbelt off, snagged the survival kit and the portable ghost tracker out of the back, and jumped out of the RV.

"Beep, beep, beep," the tracker announced as it tuned in to Phantom's ectosignature. Stumbling a bit from her still-sore leg, she raced across a parking lot towards a set of abandoned apartment buildings. "Beep, beep, beep," the tracker picked up speed as she neared the ghost's position.

Maddie gazed at the building before her. Ignoring the "condemned" sign, she ducked through an opening and headed down the hallway. The tracker led her up a set of crumbling stairs to the second floor, and then down a slowly rotting hallway. "Beepbeepbeepbeep," the tracker chimed incessantly when she pointed it at a closed door with an ancient, brass "7" nailed to it.

Whatever the tracker was picking up on, it was in this room.

Her arm refused to move to grasp the door knob. _What's in there? Phantom's remains? Something better? _She shivered, _something worse?_

Finally, her hand trembling horribly, she pushed open the disintegrating door and walked into the dark room._  
_

**_To be concluded…_**


	11. Light

_The light shines the brightest after the dark._

* * *

**Darkness  
**A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

Chapter 11: Light

* * *

Maddie gazed into the room in horror. Dark shadows lurked in the corners, casting their long fingers across the floor. She bit her lip and took a step backwards. _Not the dark…_

But she saw him. Curled up in a ball, lying on the floor, was a boy. His messy, dirty, white hair was hanging in his face. His outfit was ripped and dirty, barely covering the cuts and bruises that marked his body.

"Phantom," Maddie breathed, dropping the survival kit and the ghost tracker to the floor. She raced to his side, kneeling down on the floor. Two fingers brushed against his cheek as she studied his face. The ghost-boy was transparent; his ragged breathing was weak and faltering.

"Phantom?" she whispered a bit louder, pushing his dusty hair out of his eyes. _Please be alright… Don't make me loose them both…_

Two green eyes opened slightly, staring up at her. They were dull and lifeless. "What?" the boy whimpered. "I want to sleep."

"No, you can't sleep." Maddie gently shook his shoulder when his eyes drooped closed. "I'm here to help you."

"How," he rasped. His arms twitched as he tried to move them. "Just leave me alone."

"No." Maddie rustled through her emergency kit for a bottle of water. She tipped Phantom's head back and poured some water into his mouth. He coughed, but swallowed. "You saved my life," she murmured. "You're a hero. It's my turn to save you."

His green eyes stared into hers. "You think I'm a hero?" He sounded speechless.

"Yes." She smiled at him, her worried eyes drifting over his withered form. "I'm going to get you out of here. You'll be fine." A tear trickled down her cheek. "Everything will be alright, just like you promised." She poured him another mouthful of water.

Maddie turned around and rummaged through her emergency pack for her cell phone. Behind her, she could hear Phantom push himself up onto one elbow. "You believe me?" His voice trembled as he spoke. "You don't think I'm just some stupid ghost?"

"Of course I do." She said it absently, not even contemplating it. Deep down inside, she believed him and was finally ready to admit it.

_There it is! _Maddie yanked out the cell phone and sat for a moment, her mind twisting as it tried to figure out who to call. She was gazing so intently at the phone that she almost missed with Phantom said next.

"Then I owe you an apology."

"Why?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the phone.

"For lying to you." A flash of white light caught her attention and she twisted around towards the half-ghost. The cell phone clattered to the ground out of nerveless fingers as she stared at the (now human) boy.

"DANNY!"

**_The end._**


	12. Shadows Preview

_Step out of the darkness and into the shadows that play in the night._

* * *

**Shadows**  
A Danny Phantom FanFiction by Cordria

* * *

A _huge_ chunk of the story is missing. Burning questions _need_ to be answered.

Just how _did_ Danny survive? What happened to him? Where did he go? Will his parents accept him?

Finally, the lost section of the story is unveiled in the sequel to **Darkness**. Follow Danny as he makes the journey from the dark castle in the woods to the abandoned building and beyond.

_Catch the saga… read **Shadows** next!  
_


End file.
